60 Minutes crew could have charges downgraded

AUSTRALIAN mother Sally Faulkner and a crew from Channel Nine have been questioned by a Lebanese judge who could downgrade the child abduction charges against them.

Four members of the Channel Nine TV - presenter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment - were among a group of people arrested after a botched attempt to take Ms Faulkner's children off the streets of the capital, Beirut.

Ms Faulkner emerged shaken and teary eyed after being questioned by the judge for about 20 minutes.

Her estranged husband Ali el-Amien - who took the children to Lebanon last year and refused to let them return - had already been questioned, and Ms Faulkner was questioned in front of him.